Green Room

Chris Dodd intimidating lawmakers on SOPA, PIPA

Consumer group Public Knowledge makes the accusation about the former Senator-turned-MPAA head’s activities on behalf of the controversial anti-piracy bills:

“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,” Dodd said on Fox News on Thursday.

In general (unlike many), I do not have a big issue with lobbyists; I have a problem with a government large enough to make them a virtual necessity. However, after Dodd announced his retirement from the US Senate (rather than face a campaign centered on his involvement in the subprime mortgage crisis), he promised, “No lobbying, no lobbying,” as if there was something wrong with it. He became head of the MPAA — the Hollywood lobby — weeks after retiring. But openly issuing veiled threats on national television probably doesn’t count as “lobbying,” so this is really more about Dodd’s general sliminess and hypocrisy than a legal problem.

Now that widespread opposition from the tech sector and the public has forced Congress to table SOPA and PIPA, Dodd has regrets. He regrets they didn’t ram these bills into law before the opposition grew, that the debate was focused on Hollywood and… that his own lobbying efforts were hampered by the law he backed. Dodd previously voted for the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which among other things increased the “cooling off” period for Senators lobbying their former colleagues from one to two years.

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Why is Hollywood so greedy? What, millions in profits aren’t enough? They have to have millions and millions? Shouldn’t Dennis Kucinich be calling for a Reasonable Profits Board to monitor just how much money is raked in by these Hollywood moguls? Beyonce and Jay-Z just cordoned off an entire floor of a hospital to have a baby. Their net worth is reportedly upwards of $750M. Why should we be concerned about protecting more profits for these 1%’ers, Chris Dodd? Are you in bed with big movie?

For years we have been saying, we have to do something, and a lot of people who have intellectual property are not as big and powerful as Hollywood.

But here would be a start: If piracy affects your bottom line, can we ask what Hollywood is doing about it on their own behalf, with their own money? Are the movie companies doing as much as they can? What about the international scope of the problem is a hurdle our companies can’t get around?

Can Hollywood do anything by spending their own money to solve any of this? Are they just wanting someone else to police their intellectual property? Do we need laws that make then able to sue companies for piracy? Are there any technological protections that could limit piracy, now or maybe something in the future?

Mostly, people don’t like someone else being blamed for piracy, when they are not the perp, and a judgement to shut something down from the government feels uncomfortable to many people.

Yeah, why doesn’t someone investigate what role the Sweetheart of Countrywide played in the mortgage blow up? Obama and Holder are still extorting money from Bank of America over that and they didn’t even own Countrywide at the time.

I’ve finally figured out that I enjoy movies on my home theater system much more than sitting in a movie theater with morons using their smart phones and distracting me, let alone some of the inane conversation I have to put up with. The only reason I like going to the movies is for the popcorn, but that is mostly subpar. Now, I’m buying my own pro-level popcorn machine and it will be the best of both worlds. Hollywood, you take your over-priced, faux 3-D movies and stuff ‘em for all I care, and more power to anyone who can screw ‘em.

“…this is really more about Dodd’s general sliminess and hypocrisy than a legal problem.” It is too bad that Connecticut didn’t realize this long ago and hadn’t re elected him so often then he couldn’t have done all the harm he did. We should really do a better job of learning about our elected officials and then we might not return them to office to get wealthier and more entrenched. He is only doing what he always did and got away with.

There aren’t too many people who will defend piracy, but Hollywood isn’t a particularly sympathetic victim either, after the way they cook the books to deprive artists of their share of the profits. The author of the Forrest Gump books has still not been paid a dime for the Forrest Gump movie, for example. And the shenanigans re: ripping off Peter Jackson and the the Tolkien family over the LOTR movies were disgraceful. Lawsuits over that were why it took so long to get going on the Hobbit. Dodd is right that people in the industry suffer due to theft, but he neglects to mention that his employers are the worst of the lot.

I’ve finally figured out that I enjoy movies on my home theater system much more than sitting in a movie theater with morons using their smart phones and distracting me, let alone some of the inane conversation I have to put up with. The only reason I like going to the movies is for the popcorn, but that is mostly subpar. Now, I’m buying my own pro-level popcorn machine and it will be the best of both worlds. Hollywood, you take your over-priced, faux 3-D movies and stuff ‘em for all I care, and more power to anyone who can screw ‘em.

HiJack on January 21, 2012 at 3:00 PM

What do you use for topping?

Laura Curtis on January 21, 2012 at 3:30 PM

If you want the most authentic movie theater popcorn experience, pop the corn in hydrogenated coconut oil and use soybean oil-based margarine (with no butter, buttermilk, or other natural butter flavoring) for the “butter.”

Second, citizens of America, it’s time to let the overpaid undertalented spoiled rotten pampered phony air-brushed royalty of Hollywood and the greedy thugs they answer to know that they don’t run this country either. I consider it a good thing that they’ve withdrawn financial support from Obutthead. Also, I have support for the right and appropriate kind of anti-piracy legislation, one that doesn’t trample on my rights or give this current bloated out-of-reg-controlled fat old Uncle Sam any more power or any kind of open-ended power that can easily be mis-interpreted to overstep its purpose or to satisfy its insatiable privacy invading perversions.

However, honestly, the majority of music, TV and cinema (did I leave anything out?) that “Hollywood” produces is such plain old bilge garbage and crapola of the highest order that they certainly don’t need to protect its piracy from me.

I always have a chuckle whenever Dodd comes up in the news. Yet another American Royal, the son of a corrupt politician, the same as the Kennedys, Nancy Pelosi, The Bushs, and even our current presumptive front runner, the Romneys. I used to listen to my father tell stories of what he knew of my grandfathers dealings on the Hill, and always tld him he should write a book about it. The one that makes me chuckle when I hear about Chris’ sleaziness is about how Tom Dodd used to come up to my family’s farm on the weekends. The woman who would accompany him was most assuredly not Grace Dodd. But who am I to judge? My granddad’s mistress attended all of my family’s events and holidays for twenty years after my grandparents died, so, weirdness is subjective.

When the entire judicial/prosecution wing of Gov’t is controlled by political appointees from both parties, it’s easy to see why no political appointees or politicians ever get in trouble for the crap they do.

The Republic has been dead for 80 years, we just have a hard time accepting that fact.